In what might be the best news of the day, MGM has set director Ryan Coogler along with actor Michael B. Jordan in developing a spinoff ‘Rocky‘ film called ‘Creed‘. Don’t worry, Sly Stallone will reprise Rocky again as a retired boxer, now trainer for Apollo Creed’s grandson, which will be played by Jordan. Coogler and Jordan most recently collaborated on the amazing film ‘Fruitvale Station‘, which you can read that review HERE.

I can’t believe how fast this year has gone by. 2015 was an interesting year to say the least, most of which was great. Movie-wise, I think 2015 had some excellent films filling its theaters, but of course it had some real stinkers too. Below is my list of the Best and Worst films of 2015. I believe this year I watched over 175 new films, theatrically speaking and it was very difficult to narrow them down from 25. After some strawberry cake covered in Lucky Charms, I finally had a TOP 15, however, these films are in no particular order this year. But when you talk about the Best movies, you have to mention the worst too. My list tends to be a tad bit different from others, but hey, I’m twisted. I highly encourage you to seek out these movies – good or bad and enjoy the rest of your year.

THE FILM

Going into the 18th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you’d hope you wouldn’t see the same thing over and over that we’ve been watching since Iron Man debuted a decade ago. As the years have passed on by, watching a Marvel movie became something tedious, even though most of the films are fun and enjoyable. Don’t get me wrong, Marvel has done a great job with each and every film they’ve put out, but moving into their 18th film, it seems like we’ve seen almost everything and every action scene is something recycled from the previous, whether it be superheroes jumping from car to car during car chases or aliens come out of the sky and destroying the planet. Luckily for all of us Marvel fans, ‘Black Panther‘ breathes new and creative life into a somewhat stale film series in the best ways possible.

Admittedly, the easiest narrative for Black Panther reviews is that it is a “game-changer”, “important”, “redefines hero”, etc. Those narratives and feelings aren’t wrong. I think Black Panther is one of Marvel’s best stand-alone hero films. It is right behind The Winter Soldier and the original Iron Man for me. In a few years it may even eclipse those two as the distance and impact it has going forward is felt. I believe the cultural and racial themes of this film are well thought out, focused, bold, and sobering. To be perfectly honest I don’t feel comfortable writing about that aspect of the film in depth. I’m a 32 year old goofy white guy who is not a good enough writer to navigate that territory, plus I lack the experiences that would make my take worth reading. There are some incredible writers who have written on the overall cultural impact of (essentially) an all-black cast superhero film and I encourage all of you to seek those pieces out because they are worth your time. My review is going to focus on just how badass this movie is.

Going into the 18th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you’d hope you wouldn’t see the same thing over and over that we’ve been watching since Iron Man debuted a decade ago. As the years have passed on by, watching a Marvel movie became something tedious, even though most of the films are fun and enjoyable. Don’t get me wrong, Marvel has done a great job with each and every film they’ve put out, but moving into their 18th film, it seems like we’ve seen almost everything and every action scene is something recycled from the previous, whether it be superheroes jumping from car to car during car chases or aliens come out of the sky and destroying the planet. Luckily for all of us Marvel fans, ‘Black Panther‘ breathes new and creative life into a somewhat stale film series in the best ways possible.

THE FILM

Another year, another ‘Rocky‘ movie. Some of you might be saying, “When is enough, enough?” More times than not, you might be right with any string of sequels that goes back the third installment, particularly with the ‘Rocky‘ franchise. Sure, the first ‘Rocky‘ film from 1976 was spectacular, and arguably one of the better movies ever made. It even won a ton of Oscars that year, including Best Picture. ‘Rocky II‘ came shortly after, which was still excellent, but starting with ‘Rocky III‘, things got silly and the films lost some focus. Still, audiences world wide packed theater houses to see the Italian Stallion (Sylvester Stallone) underdog his way up to the top, never quitting and giving his best. It’s a great message.

Another year, another ‘Rocky‘ movie. Some of you might be saying, “When is enough, enough?” More times than not, you might be right with any string of sequels that goes back the third installment, particularly with the ‘Rocky‘ franchise. Sure, the first ‘Rocky‘ film from 1976 was spectacular, and arguably one of the better movies ever made. It even won a ton of Oscars that year, including Best Picture. ‘Rocky II‘ came shortly after, which was still excellent, but starting with ‘Rocky III‘, things got silly and the films lost some focus. Still, audiences world wide packed theater houses to see the Italian Stallion (Sylvester Stallone) underdog his way up to the top, never quitting and giving his best. It’s a great message.

Despite being 68 years old, Sylvester Stallone is still game for boxing his way for a title fight as well as taking on an army of bad guys. That’s right, the two more iconic roles the actor is known for will be back on the big screen within a couple of years. I am of course talking about ‘Rambo‘ and ‘Rocky‘.

Well the Oscar nominations are in, which you can see by CLICKING HERE. There were some great nominees this year, but tons of stuff got snubbed. I can’t believe some of the misfires this year. There are tons of films and people that should have received a nomination. Here are some that got snubbed in my opinion.

The first word that comes to my mind about this movie is… Heart. Based on a true story of Oscar Grant, the 22 year old that was murdered by a police officer in the early hours of New Year’s Day in 2009 at the Fruitvale BART Station in the Bay Area of California, the story follows Oscar, played by Michael B. Jordan (Friday Night Lights) on the last day of his life and shows the ups and downs he faced as a young man and father trying to do the right thing.

What a rough movie to get through. After the credits rolled and the lights came up in the theater, there was not a dry eye in the house. Instead of a documentary, we have a narrative account on the real life murder of Oscar Grant, an incident that occurred on New Years Night in 2009 that sparked large protests and riots in Oakland and around the country. In his first feature film effort, director Ryan Coogler takes us through the life of Grant in the hours leading up to his untimely murder. Major Hollywood figures have been involved in this case with Forest Whitaker serving as producer on the film and Octavia Spencer playing the role of Grant’s mother. This film needs to be seen by everyone and I wish I could buy everyone a ticket to see ‘Fruitvale Station’.

The 2013 Sundance Film Festival is in full preparation mode as it will start January 17-27 and will showcase 113 featur length films, which 98 of them are premieres from over 32 countries. Here is the full list of films that will be shown in all competitions as well as the non competition films. Hopefully it won’t be too terribly cold in Utah this year. Some of these films look AMAZING!